Himalayan salt candles and handmade butter knives adorn the tables at top Welsh chef James Sommerin’s long-awaited restaurant on the South Wales coast.

It is the sort of attention to detail that has earned Mr Sommerin, who held a Michelin star for seven years, an enviable reputation in Wales and beyond.

The restaurant on the Penarth Esplanade, opened two weeks ago and has already taken more than 2,000 bookings between now and Christmas, with more being made every day.

Sitting in the elegant restaurant with views across the Bristol Channel to Flat Holm and Steep Holm, Mr Sommerin said: “It has been fantastic.

“We want to showcase what we do and we want showcase the best of Wales.”

This is his first restaurant, and he says it will be his only one.

“This is my baby,” he said. “Hopefully, fingers crossed, we will become a destination restaurant which will be good for us and good for the area.”

Mr Sommerin, former head chef of the Michelin-starred Crown at Whitebrook in Monmouthshire, chose to open his restaurant in the town known as The Garden by the Sea, although he had received other offers of work, many in and around London.

Mr Sommerin, 35, started cooking when he was 12 and was inspired by his grandmother with whom he used to bake bread and make toffee Friday.

He said: “I was born in Caerleon and I love Wales. I wanted to stay in Wales and what better place to come than somewhere close to Cardiff.”

He continued: “I came down here a couple of years ago and fell in love with the place. It really is a hidden gem.”

The centre of Cardiff holds no appeal for Mr Sommerin, who said it was drink-led rather than food- based. Work on luxury apartments above the restaurant is nearly complete, while the refurbished Penarth Pier Pavilion has made the seafront a popular place for visitors.

It’s a location which Mr Sommerin feels sure will inspire his culinary imagination.

“When you see a storm rolling in and then in the blink of an eye it has rolled off towards Newport, it is really something,” he said.

Mr Sommerin, who employs 16 chefs and front-of-house staff, said that, of course, he would like to be awarded a Michelin star again.

“But it is not the be-all and end-all. If it comes, it comes and I won’t say no.

“But for me it is all about building a successful restaurant.

“We want people to come here, feel welcome and go away happy.

“A Michelin star doesn’t mean expensive. It is all about quality. I want to appeal to everyone, meet people and talk to them about what we are doing.

“I would do nothing different for a Michelin star inspector, a journalist or ad ordinary diner. Everyone is a VIP.”